An Artist

This is my definition of an artist:  someone who can see the limits artificially imposed upon their work by tradition.  There are always assumptions made by society about what art should be.  It is obvious that Cage broke down a lot of walls with his philosophy, that his “nothing to say” rattled and broke hitherto unobserved tenets of music.  What is not obvious is that there are still invisible beliefs waiting to be discovered.  And in fifty years we will look back at the movement that is currently stewing the in the brain of the next Duchamp and think, “now, art has gone as far as it can go.” 

This is the job of the artist: to prove the complacent creative wrong.  

~ by zimmermusic on May 12, 2008.